28 August 2015

Press release

Evangelism threatened by counter-extremism measures

Four out of
five evangelicals think government policies to tackle extremism may make it
harder for them to share their faith.

Two thirds of
respondents to the Alliance’s survey of more than 1,700 evangelicals felt that
the current attempt to define values was a reflection of the country’s identity
crisis and three quarters agreed that freedom of speech needs greater
protection.

The research
into British values is published in the latest issue of the Evangelical
Alliance’s idea magazine. Evangelicals
are broadly supportive of the government’s plans to define and promote British
values (71 per cent), and although they consider it a reasonable response to
extremism (57 per cent), there is widespread concern about its unintended
consequences.

The Evangelical
Alliance has strongly advocated for freedom of religious belief and freedom of
speech over many years, which includes standing alongside other faith groups
and secular campaigners to defend the right to say things that others may not
agree with.

Dr Dave
Landrum, director of advocacy for the Evangelical Alliance, commented: “Our
fundamental freedoms are being threatened by the government over-reacting to
security threats to those very freedoms. We may be in danger of destroying the
foundations while trying to protect the house we have built on them.”

According to
evangelicals, the Christian faith has played a key role in providing values to
British society throughout its history, but this legacy is swiftly eroding. The
survey showed that the vast majority of respondents (93 per cent) agreed
Christianity had strongly shaped historic British values, but less than a third
(31 per cent) felt they still shaped values today. Fewer than one in five (18
per cent) agreed that Britain is a Christian country.

Dr Landrum went
on to say: “Many people value the legacy that our country is built on, yet it
seems that today we’re trying to build our social values on nothing but fresh
air and good intentions. We value Christianity when it suits us, and we
dispense with it when it’s inconvenient. But it’s the central truths of
Christianity that led to the very freedoms we now rely on. If we want to
restore values to the heart of British society we need to remember where they
came from. If we want to continue to enjoy the fruits of our freedoms, we need
to acknowledge the roots.”

Further
findings in the survey include:

Half
of evangelicals think greed is the top ‘deadly sin’ among the British
population, followed by 15 per cent who chose lust.

Consumerism
is the most commonly observed negative trait (picked by 65 per cent), followed
by obsession with celebrity (58 per cent).

Charity
is the top ‘heavenly virtue’ in the British population, chosen by 34 per cent.
Not a single person thought the virtue of chastity was most widespread among
Britons.

Evangelicals
are much more likely than the national population to believe ‘respecting
Britain’s political institutions and laws’ and sharing ‘Britain’s customs and
traditions’ were important aspects to being truly British. For the first
measure 96 to 85 per cent, and on the second 84 to 50 per cent.

Far
fewer evangelicals think an important characteristic of being British is being
born in Britain (43 per cent compared to 74 per cent of the national population),
having lived there most of one’s life (49 per cent compared to 77 per cent) and
having British ancestry (35 per cent compared to 51 per cent).

43
per cent of evangelicals think being a Christian is important to be truly
British, compared to 24 per cent of the British population.

We are the largest and oldest body representing the UK’s two million evangelical Christians. For more than 165 years, we have been bringing Christians together and helping them listen to, and be heard by, the government, media and society. We’re here to connect people for a shared mission, whether it’s celebrating the Bible, making a difference in our communities or lobbying the government for a better society. From Skye to Southampton, from Coleraine to Cardiff, we work across 79 denominations, 3,500 churches, 750 organisations and thousands of individual members. And we're not just uniting Christians within the UK – we are a founding member of the World Evangelical Alliance, a global network of more than 600 million evangelical Christians. For more information, go to www.eauk.org.

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